106 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[March, 
Tlie Doctor’s Talks-About 
Tr©M.l>le in a BSIrcl's West. 
“ Birds in their little nests agree,'’ says the song, which 
is often quoted when children are disposed to quarrel. It 
is generally true that the little things do agree in their 
nests, hut it sometimes happens that they do not, and 
HOW A YOUNG CUCKOO BEHAVES. 
our picture, which was drawn by a lady in England, and 
which tells what sue saw, shows that, sometimes at least, 
there may even be quarrelsome times in a bird’s nest. 
You have probably all read or heard about the Cuckoo. 
Many of your child’s stories and your songs, have 
come from England—the mother country—and many of 
you have heard about the Cuckoo, as a very early spring 
bird, who “ Sings as sheflies; she brings us good tidings, 
and tells us no lies.”—But the English Cuckoo is a very 
unpleasant bird after all; the English people may be 
glad to hear its voice “ cuck-oo—cuck-oo,” because it tells 
them that the winter is over, and that spring has come. 
The Cuckoo as an early spring bird, is mentioned in 
very early history, and is even spoken of in the Bible. 
But though it is a well known bird, it is a very mean 
one. It very rarely, if ever, builds a nest of its own 
(some say it does sometimes build a nest), but the 
female bird goes and lays its eggs in the nest of some 
other bird. When the Cuckoo does this, she very often 
chooses the nest of a much smaller bird, and the poor 
mother of the nest goes on and hatches out the egg of 
the Cuckoo. When the young Cuckoo is hatched, then 
trouble begins. Birds in this case do not “ in their little 
nests agree.” The young Cuckoo, very soon after it is 
hatched, and even before it gets its eyes open, begins to 
feel that while the nest is large enough for one, it is not 
large enough for but one, and that one is itself. So the 
blind and featherless creature begins to work around ; 
if it feels any eggs, it somehow manages to push them 
over the side of the nest; if it feels a young bird, it 
works its body under the poor thing, and then by back¬ 
ing and pushing, manages to get the bird, which really 
belongs there, out of the nest; the little soft featherless 
creature falls to the ground audis killed; or if the nest 
is low, and it is not killed, it is unable to get back again, 
but is so chilled that it dies. It has been denied that the 
young Cuckoo pushed the birds out of the nest, but sev¬ 
eral have seen it done, the lady who drew this picture 
for the “ London Field,'’ among others, having seen it, 
and after the bird was put back into the nest, have seen 
it put out a second time. It sometimes happens that 
two Cuckoos’ eggs arc laid in the same nest, aud then 
they show no brotherly love, but the one which is the 
weakest must go overboard, leaving the stronger to have 
the nest all to itself, and of course all the food that the 
poor mother of the nest would have brought to her own 
young. “ How mean,” you will say, “lam glad we have 
no Cuckoos in thiscountry.”-But you would bo too fast; 
we have Cuckoos here, but they build their own nests, 
and behave like most other birds. Still, we have a 
very common bird, which is not a Cuckoo at all, that has 
just the same ways, and instead of building a nest of its 
own, goes prowling about, and when it finds a chance, 
leaves its egg in the nest of some other bird. This bird 
is known as the Cowbird, Cow-Blackbird, and the Cow- 
Bunting ; you must have often seen it in the spring, for 
it is found in small flocks in the pastures all over the 
country. The male bird is black, with its head and neck 
purplish-brown, while the female is of a grayish-brown, 
and lighter below. The female selects the nests of the 
smaller birds, such as the warblers, the sparrows, the 
small thrushes, and others, and deposits her egg when 
the proper owner of the nest is away. The egg of this 
bird is grayish-white, with small reddish dots all over 
the surface, and often there are blotches of brown at the 
larger end. If you find an egg of this kind in a nest, 
where there other and smaller eggs of another color, you 
will be safe in throwing this out as having no business 
there. If one of the other birds finds 
au egg of this kind in her nest, she is in 
great trouble, for she appears to know 
that it has no right to be there ; some of 
the birds, finding the stranger egg in 
their nest, get together new building ma¬ 
terials, sticks, hay, moss, or whatever it 
may be, and build another nest right over 
it. But it often happens that this is not 
done, and the mother of the nest sits up¬ 
on the strange egg as well as her own. 
Now it happens that this Cowbird’s egg 
hatches sooner than most other eggs, and 
tile bird from it is not only larger than 
the others, but comes sooner, and can at 
once begin to push out the eggs, or birds, 
if there be any, and then have the whole 
nest to itself. It is said that while the 
owner of the nest tries to get rid of the 
strange egg, she will, if this is once hatch¬ 
ed, give the young Cowbird all the care 
that she would have given her own. “It’s 
just mean—that’s what it is,” you will 
say.—Do not be in a hurry to find fault 
with the works of the Creator. You must 
remember that even the most learned do 
not know everything, and those who have 
studied birds all their lives, find that they 
have yet much to learn, even about our 
common ones. It may be that when we 
come to learn all about this habit of the Cowbird, 
we shall find that there is a good reason why it does in 
this way, and perhaps think it is a beautiful and won¬ 
derful arrangement. Let us wait, says The Doctor. 
Anns. Sne’s Oants. 
THE SEVEN WONDEKS OF THE WOULD DESCRIBED. 
Mary D.— Never “be ashamed to ask ” for informa¬ 
tion, dear. I don’t believe Mr. “ Charlie ” could have 
told you “ out of his own head ” what were “ the Seven 
Wonders of the World,” unless ho had just happened to 
have learned all about them. They were—1. The Pyra¬ 
mids of Egypt; 2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon ; 3. 
The Temple of Diana at Ephesus ; 4. The Statue of 
Jupiter in the Temple at Athens; 5. The Tomb of Mau- 
solus, King of Caria; 0. The Colossus of Rhodes; and 
7. Tlie Pharos of Alexandria. 
1. The Pyramids were the supposed tombs of mon- 
archs. They are seventy in number, of different sizes. 
The construction of the Hanging Gardens is vari¬ 
ously ascribed to Queen Semiramis, and to Nebuchadnez¬ 
zar—seven centuries later; yet still more than five cen¬ 
turies B. C.—who is said to have made them for the 
gratification of liis Median queen, Amytis, because the 
Babylonian plain seemed dreary to her in comparison 
with the varied and romantic scenery of her native land. 
They are said to have formed a square, with an area of 
four acres, but rising in terraces curiously constructed 
with stone pillars, across which were placed stones cov¬ 
ered with reeds and bitumen, and again with bricks 
united with cement. Above these, sheets of lead, to pre¬ 
vent moisture from flowing down ; and, finally, a suffi¬ 
cient layer of earth ; the top being raised three hundred 
feet above the plain, so that at a distance the whole 
presented the appearance of a pyramidal wooded hill. 
A reservoir at the top irrigated the gardens and fed the 
numerous fountains. These fountains, as well as ban quot¬ 
ing-rooms, were distributed throughout the numerous 
terraces ; groves and avenues of trees, and parterres of 
flowers, diversified the scene ; whilst the view of the city 
and neighborhood was extensive and magnificent. 
3. The Temple of Diana was originally built by Cher- 
siphron, but after its destruction, by Herostratus, on the 
night when Alexander the Great was born (356 B. C.), 
was re-built by the inhabitants in a style of greater 
splendor than before, the very women contributing their 
ornaments to secure necessary funds. (Wasn’t that a 
wonder?) Still, two hundred years elapsed before it was 
completed. It was the largest Greek temple ever con¬ 
structed. Its length was 425 feet, its width 220 feet: the 
number of its columns 12S, of which 30 were carved, and 
their hight 60 feet. It contained numberless statues and 
pictures, and was destroyed by the Goths in 260 A. D. 
4. The statue of Jupiter in the Temple at Athens, was 
made of ivory and gold. It was the work of Phidias. 
5. The Mausoleum (the tomb of Mausolus) was erected 
at Hariicarnassus by the disconsolate widow of Mausolus, 
Artemisia, (353 B. C.). It was described by Pliny and 
other ancient writers as late as the twelfth century, and 
was probably overthrown by an earthquake at some time 
during the two following centuries. It consisted of a 
basement, 126’by 100 feet, and 65 feet high, on which 
stood an Ionic colonnade, 23>< feet high, surmounted by 
a pyramid, rising in steps to a similar hight, and on the 
apex of which stood a group, about 14 feet high, of 
Mausolus aud his wife (the supposed work of Scopas). 
The total hight given by Pliny is 140 feet. 
C. The Colossus of Rhodes was a large human figure, 
made of metal, cast in separate pieces, and was com¬ 
pleted-280 B. C. Some saying it was 90 feet, and others 
upwards of 105 feet high. It stood at the entrance of the 
harbor of Rhodes, but there is no authority for the state¬ 
ment that its legs extended over the mouth of the harbor. 
It was overthrown and broken to pieces by an earthquake 
50 years after its erection, or B. C. 224. The fragments 
remained on the ground 896 years, until they were sold 
to a Jew of Emesa, who carried them away on nine hun¬ 
dred camels, A. D. 672; but what was done with the 
pieces I am unable to say. 
7. The Pharos was a famous white marble tower 100 
feet high, on the top of which fires were kept to serve 
as a light-house fer the direction of mariners. It was 
erected on the Island of Pharos at Alexandria 280 B. C. 
Lill writes:—“Dear Aunt Sue. Can you please tell 
me the author of the poem entitled the 1 Golden Legend ?’ 
I thought it was written by Longfellow, but fail to find it 
among his works. Please publish this in your columns, 
for I know of several who would like to find this out.”— 
It is Longfellow’s; published in 1851, and may be found 
in any edition of his poems after that date. 
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 
Allie S. W. has “ more carpet-rags sewed together ” 
than they need for a carpet, and asks me what she shall 
do with them. Allie is 
evidently a farmer’s 
daughter, and doubtless 
knows twice as much 
about such matters as I 
do; but I would suggest 
braiding your surplus rags 
into a long strip (of three- 
strand braid), and making 
mats and iron-holders of 
them. We have a large, 
and really handsome door¬ 
mat made in that way; 
the strands are about as 
thick as your finger. Whether the mats are round or 
oblong in form (and I much prefer the latter), depends 
upon the way you com¬ 
mence sewing them to¬ 
gether, as shown in figures 
1 and 2. If yon wish a 
round mat,commence sew¬ 
ing the braid together as 
in figure 1; but if you 
would make an oval one, 
start it as in fig. 2. Sew 
the edges of the braid 
firmly together with stout, 
waxed thread—continuously round and round until you 
have the mat as large as yon require it. Figure 3 shows 
the round, and fig. 4 the oval mat, as they will look when 
finished. 
T. F. W., says, “ My brother has bet me ten cents that 
he can prove that a pig has three tails ; you are so good 
at puzzles, I want you to tell me how he does it.” I 
should like first to give you a little lecture on betting, 
but I suppose it wouldn’t do any good. I often hear 
boys in the street getting loud and angry in their discus¬ 
sions, and finishing up with “ I bet you a dollar I can ! ” 
when I don’t suppose they own five cents in the world. 
Don’t bet if you can avoid it. In the matter of the pig’s 
tail, I presume it is a catch, (or syllogism) and can be 
proved fin this way: no pig has two tails, one pig has 
one tail more than no pig, hence one pig must have three 
tails. And by that rule you can “ prove ” to your brother 
that an ox has four thousand horns. 
H. L. P.—You “ thought it would be nice to see my 
name in print.” then say “please give none but the 
initials.” Well, here are the latter. Thanks for the 
Cross-word, but I have so many dozens of cross-words 
and numerical enigmas waiting their turn to be pub¬ 
lished that I cannot promise you will ever see it in print. 
Fig. 4. 
